All hipsters claim to be sick of irony while simultaneously embracing it. Gawker has been one of the most active sites in calling such trends a spade when they see a spade. The latest case is the beatdown Gawker gave to pseudo-ironic acoustic versions of widely successful pop songs that have been making the rounds at indie concerts and YouTube videos everywhere. Whether it be "My Humps," "Thriller," or "Umbrella," Gawker's problem is not the covers themselves, but the smugness attached to them:

I'm annoyed with the sentiment that the musician is somehow doing or saying something by stripping down production value. Take a look at the Ben Gibbard cover of Thriller.

 

It's the self-satisfied smirk and the laughter of the audience that bother me. They're so proud of themselves for being better than pop music.

 

And also, in de-pop-ifying these pop numbers, what are they removing? The R&B influence, the Rap influence, and pointing out the fact that a lot of pop lyrics fail to comport with standard spoken English but instead reflect African American vernacular. I'm just sayin'.

 While I wouldn't go so far as the play the race card, kudos to mr.guyball for pointing out a phenomenon that's gotten increasingly annoying over time. Do you agree?

Trends: Hipster Irony Removes Fun From Pop Music, Leaves Various Words For Butt [Gawker]